Mississippi College Completes Clinton Property Purchase

Clinton Public Schools Superintendent Phil Burchfield, MC President Lee Royce and Clinton Mayor Rosemary Aultman

With a few strokes of the pen this week, President Lee Royce wrapped up Mississippi College’s purchase of the old Clinton Junior High property.

The purchase opens the door to much-needed expansion for the Baptist-affiliated university that saw its enrollment grow to a record 5,008 students this fall.

“This is very exciting and very impressive,” Royce said as he signed papers at his Nelson Hall office on Wednesday morning.

From start to finish, it took three years for the process to occur and the 17.5 acre site officially became MC’s property on Sept. 1. For years, every square inch of space on the growing university’s main 141-acre campus in Clinton was utilized.

“Our programs and enrollments are growing and with the purchase of this property, MC has the opportunity to grow physically as well,” Royce said. “This is a beautiful piece of property, and the location could not be better in terms of proximity to our campus.”

Purchasing the old Clinton Junior High property with a successful bid of $3,501,000 completes one major hurdle, and there are a number of big steps to come. MC hired architect and campus planner Richard Dean to examine options how to best use the valuable space fronting Clinton Parkway and College Street. He will also explore other possibilities to maximize the university’s entire property inventory.

“Just now we are talking about the master plan. The architect will assist us to formulate it,” says Steve Stanford, MC’s vice president for administration and government relations. He anticipates no major changes regarding use of the new Clinton property during the 2010-2011 school year while studies get completed and university leaders ponder potential moves.

Clinton Mayor Rosemary Aultman is delighted with MC’s purchase of the old Clinton Junior High property.

“It’s a good day for the whole community,” Aultman said after meeting Thursday with Royce at Nelson Hall. “MC is the right entity to own the property – they’ve been long identified with education,” she said. “We’re anxiously awaiting improvements on the property.”

Clinton Public Schools Superintendent Phil Burchfield is also pleased.

“It’s huge for our district as we look to provide upgrades for our students,” Burchfield said.

The Clinton district is asking voters to approve a $23.5 million bond issue on September 14 and it would include such things as an upgrade for Sumner Hill Junior High and construction of a new elementary school on Arrow Drive.

The $3.5 million from the sale of the old Clinton Junior High property will pay off what the Clinton district owed on Clinton High School that was built in the mid-1990s. “We couldn’t have asked our community to support a bond issue had it not been for the sale of this property,” Burchfield said.

At the moment, the MC Department of Communication is among those eyeing the property down the road as a good place to set up shop.

“We’ve been in the basement of Aven Hall since the 1950s,” says Communication Department Chairman Cliff Fortenberry. “The department doesn’t have enough room. It would be wonderful to have office and theatre space there. I hope we can move to a larger facility.”

Created over 60 years ago, the Department of Communication now enrolls 190 majors, both undergraduates and graduate students. The department also houses radio station STAR 93.5 plus theatre programs and faculty offices. The possibility of moving all of their operations couldn’t happen overnight. “It’s probably a three-year plan,” Fortenberry said.

At this point, no MC departments have launched formal discussions with the president’s office.

The old Clinton Junior High property is very familiar to the Mississippi College family and its Clinton neighbors. The band hall was rented by MC for practice sessions and the auditorium was used by the Brick Street Players. MC band students marched on its vacant fields as they practiced before MC Choctaws’ football games in the fall.

The property was used as Clinton Junior High’s campus until 1996. In recent years, it served as headquarters of the Clinton Alternative School that relocated to the old Clinton library with classes starting in the fall. The site also housed the Clinton district’s maintenance, child nutrition and special education programs, the IT Department and the district’s nurse. The Clinton School Board gave its initial OK to the Mississippi College purchase in February.